Ben Harris Email RSS

is JTA's former associate editor.

Latest

• Poll: Half of Israeli Jews unsure about continued settlement construction

  February 7, 2017 11:42am

  (JTA) — A new poll found that 50 percent of Israelis are hesitant about expanding construction in the settlements. The Peace Index, a monthly survey of Israeli opinion conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, reported Tuesday that half of Israeli Jews are sure that settlement expansion is unwise or think it might be. Another 45…

• Swastikas remain on dozens of trees in upstate NY town months after first report

  February 7, 2017 10:27am

  (JTA) — Swastikas and Nazi slogans remain on dozens of trees in an upstate New York town months after they were first reported to local police. Police in Clarkstown, in Rockland County, say they are continuing to investigate the vandalism, which was first brought to their attention on July 24, the Journal News reported. No arrests…

• Israeli Cabinet ministers warn of possible escalation in Gaza

  February 7, 2017 8:59am

  (JTA) — Two Israeli Cabinet ministers warned of a possible escalation along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday that a conflict in Gaza is a “matter of when, not if,” The Times of Israel reported. And in an interview the same day with Army Radio, Housing Minister Yoav Galant,…

• Iran’s Khamenei says ‘demonstration’ coming Feb. 10 in response to Trump

  February 7, 2017 8:41am

  (JTA) — The supreme leader of Iran shot back at President Donald Trump, who warned Iran last week that it was “on notice” for testing a ballistic missile. In a speech to military officers in Tehran on Tuesday, Ali Khamenei said a response to Trump’s threats is forthcoming, according to a report on Khamenei’s website….

• Leading Jewish lawmaker in Britain: Trump should not be invited to address Parliament

  February 6, 2017 2:05pm

  (JTA) — The Jewish speaker of Britain’s House of Commons said President Donald Trump should not be welcomed to address the British Parliament. “Before the imposition of the migrant ban, I would myself have been strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall,” John Bercow told his colleagues on Monday, referring to…

• Marine Le Pen: French Jews should sacrifice yarmulke in struggle against radical Islam

  February 6, 2017 1:55pm

  (JTA) — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said French Jews should give up the wearing of yarmulkes as part of the country’s struggle to defeat radical Islam. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 that aired Friday, Le Pen expressed support for banning the wearing of yarmulkes as part of her broader effort to…

• Iran says missile can reach Tel Aviv in 7 minutes

  February 6, 2017 1:51pm

  (JTA) — A senior Iranian official threatened immediate retaliation against Israel if it is attacked, warning that Iranian missiles can reach Tel Aviv in seven minutes. Mojtaba Zonour, a senior member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission and a former Revolutionary Guards official, made the remarks over the weekend to Iran’s Fars news…

• Tel Aviv University ranked among world’s top startup schools

  February 6, 2017 10:59am

  (JTA) — A new study ranked Tel Aviv University among the top schools producing billion-dollar startups. According to the cloud accounting software firm Sage, Tel Aviv ranks eighth in the world for training the founders of so-called unicorns, startup firms worth more than $1 billion. Stanford University topped the list with 51 alumni responsible for founding…

• Jewish refugee group helps reunite Syrian family following Trump immigration order

  February 6, 2017 10:54am

  (JTA) — A Syrian family was reunited with help from the resettlement agency HIAS after the mother and her two daughters were temporarily prevented from traveling to the United States by President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. Razan Alghandour and daughters, Hanan, 8, and Lian, 5, were reunited Thursday with their husband and father,…

• Outpost bill heading for final vote in the Knesset

  February 6, 2017 9:12am

  (JTA) — A controversial bill that would legalize some settlements built on private Palestinian land is expected to be put to a final vote in the Israeli parliament. Coalition chairman David Bitan told The Times of Israel that the Knesset vote on the so-called outpost bill would “definitely” take place Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who…